That- and What-

Question

Could you tell me what is difference between that-clause and what-clause in the following sentences?

If any one is wrong, please correct it.

Thanks.

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(1) It is truly remarkable what they were able to accomplish back then.

(2) It is truly remarkable that they were able to accomplish back then.

Fandorin · Accepted Answer

Hi Lucas.
[corrected]

lucas21c It is truly remarkable that they were able to accomplish [something].

You emphasize the fact which is missing, though. That introduces clause here. With my correction it sounds more or less better.

lucas21cIt is truly remarkable what/thing that they were able to accomplish back then.

It implies the listener knows what you're talking about. The main accent here is on what they've done or, to be clear, on the action itself.

BillJ · Answer

lucas21cCould you tell me what is difference between that-clause and what-clause in the following sentences?

If any one is wrong, please correct it.

(1) It is truly remarkable what they were able to accomplish back then.

(2) It is truly remarkable that they were able to accomplish back then.

Hi lucas21c

1. ‘It is truly remarkable what they were able to accomplish back then.

In that sentence ‘what’ is a fused relative pronoun meaning ‘the thing(s) which’, so it really means:

‘It is truly remarkable the thing(s) which they were able to accomplish back then’

2. It is truly remarkable *that they were able to accomplish back then.

But this is not a ‘that-clause’ because the meaning is incomplete and therefore ungrammatical. If you must cast it that way, you need to add exactly what it is that is truly remarkable in order to make it a grammatical that-clause.

BillJ

CalifJim · Answer

(1) It is truly remarkable what they were able to accomplish back then.
(2) ~~It is truly remarkable that they were able to accomplish back then.~~

accomplish needs an object. You have to complete the idea. ... accomplished [something]. In the first sentence what provides the object. In the second sentence you have no object, so it's not correct.

CJ

Fandorin · Answer

CalifJim(2) ~~It is truly remarkable that they were able to accomplish back then.~~

Truly remarkable achievement that they were able to accomplish back then has resulted in a serious tiredness of the entire team.

Hi Jim. Does this one sound normal? It's relative clause and it is non-definite, right? The object here is a relative clause, isn't it?

Truly remarkable achievement that they were able to accomplish back then - complex subject,
has resulted in - predicate,
a serious tiredness of the entire team - complement.

Will you please clarify it, Jim?

CalifJim · Answer

FandorinTruly remarkable achievement that they were able to accomplish back then - complex subject,
has resulted in - predicate,
a serious tiredness of the entire team - complement.

Exactly. You need a few minor changes. Here's what I'd write:

The truly remarkable ... resulted in serious fatigue for the entire team.

(Maybe I just don't like the word "tiredness"!)

Your structural analysis is correct, however. Whether you consider "in" part of a prepositional verb or part of the prepositional phrase complement is neither here nor there. Six of one; half a dozen of the other. You've got the main point.

CJ

Fandorin · Answer

Thank you, Jim.

BillJ · Answer

Hi lucas21c

Judging by the posts on this thread there seems to be some confusion about how to analyse your first sentence. Perhaps this will help:

Two interesting things are going on in that sentence: extraposition and the use of a fused relative clause.

1. Extraposition.

The sentence ‘It is truly remarkable what they were able to accomplish back then is the result of something called extraposition. Where the subject (or object element) is a clause, it is possible to change the sentence around so that the subject clause comes later (usually at the end of the sentence). The element is then replaced by the pronoun it, which ‘anticipates’ the following clause. The real subject (emboldened) does not change:

What they were able to accomplish back then is truly remarkable.

It is truly remarkable what they were able to accomplish back then.

2. Fused relative Clause

The word ‘what’ is here a fused relative pronoun meaning ‘the thing(s) which’. It introduces a fused, or nominal relative clause.

Nominal relatives (which are restrictive), take the role of nouns and can be distinguished by the absence of any external antecedent to the relative pronoun – instead they have a nominal function ‘fused’ into them; in other words ‘what they were able to accomplish back then’ really means ‘the thing(s) which they were able to achieve back then’ and it functions as the subject of the verb ’is’.

Analysing the fused relative is like any other relative clause – here the noun phrase ‘the thing(s)’ is modified by the EMBEDDED relative subordinate clause ‘which they were able to accomplish…'

Other common examples are:

‘What bothers me… What he said… Whoever wins the trophy…

What interests me… Whatever he wants…

BillJ

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